


Helpless

by TheJoysOfAMultishipper (Amemah)



Series: Farcy happened. I don't know. They are very cute. [11]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Darcy Lewis & James Buchanan "Bucky" Barnes, Darcy Lewis & Phil Coulson - Freeform, F/M, Secret Relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-01
Updated: 2016-06-01
Packaged: 2018-07-11 16:38:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,121
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7060648
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Amemah/pseuds/TheJoysOfAMultishipper
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“Miss Lewis, if you’d be so kind as to stop speculating and get on with your job.” No one did deadpan as well as Nicholas Fury. And no one did scared shitless as well as Jane Foster. They’d never even seen him coming.</p><p>(Well, Darcy had. But again; classified.)</p><p>---</p><p>Uhm. Not as dirty as the summary would suggest.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Helpless

**Author's Note:**

> \--- Posted to my tumblr 31.7/2016
> 
>  
> 
> I started this in 2014. Two-thousand-and-fourteen. That’s how long it took me to finish this thing, so now I just want it out so I don’t have to stare at it for any longer. Enjoy!!!
> 
> Let me know what you think?? I love reading your comments (even though sometimes I'm shit at responding to them sRRY!!)  
> Hugs <3
> 
> \---
> 
>  
> 
> [My Tumblr! Come say hi!](http://thejoysofamultishipper.tumblr.com/)

“He is laughing because Darcy Lewis’ relationship status is highly classified, Agent Barton. So classified in fact, that you didn’t even know it  _was_  classified. Needless to say, I would be very happy if everyone would stop trying to set her up on dates, capiche?”

It had started a few weeks ago – 3 weeks and 3 days ago to be exact. Dr. Jane Foster probably didn’t mean anything about it when she’d tried to set her assistant/nurturer/caregiver up with Agent Alexander in accounting. Of course, Darcy had absolutely no desire to go out on a date with anyone, considering she was in a monogamous marriage with everyone’s boss. Only problem with that was that no one knew, except maybe Coulson. He sometimes got this weird, pinched look on his face when the three of them were in the same room, like he knew  _something_ , but it just didn’t add up.  

“How do you even  _know_  anyone outside this lab?” Darcy asked, both because it was an excellent deflection, but also because it was a legitimate question. Jane didn’t leave the lab, not unless there were promises of tequila and-or Thor. 

“Thor took a liking to him after Alien Invasion number 5,”

“They really need to get some control of that,” Darcy grimaced, tapping a few numbers into Excel. Microsoft Office had been her absolute  _bitch_  since sixth grade. 

“Yeah, you’d think the Director could just stare at them for a while and they’d get the point, right?” Jane said, and Darcy got kind of distracted thinking about the Director staring at  _her_ , because she got very different ideas when that happened. Sexy ideas that leads to the President of Uruguay nearly walking in on something he definitely shouldn’t have walked in on. Sadly, she couldn’t voice those thoughts, as Jane wasn’t ready for that conversation yet.  

“Do you think there is a black hole hiding underneath his eye-patch?” Darcy pondered, finding great pleasure in the way Jane choked on her Fanta. She had originally wanted Cola, but there was an USB-stick in the vending machine, blocking the way. Darcy wondered if Agent Romanov should have a psychiatric evaluation soon, or if maybe Coulson had finally lost it. God knows he’d seen some shit.

“I – no, Darcy, I don’t think there’s a black hole hiding underneath his eye-patch!” Jane sputtered, voice a bit raspy from the soda.

“How can you be sure though? I mean, has anyone actually  _seen_  him without it?” 

“Miss Lewis, if you’d be so kind as to stop speculating and get on with your job.” No one did deadpan as well as Nicholas Fury. And no one did scared shitless as well as Jane Foster. They’d never even seen him coming.

(Well, Darcy had. But again; classified.)

* * *

The next was Tony. See, what everyone tended to forget about him was that he was really good at going unnoticed if he wanted to. And apparently, when Jane was discussing Darcy’s – seemingly – lacking love life, he went invisible. And it’s not like anyone could be blamed for forgetting that, as he was  _Anthony Edward Stark_.   
But then again, there  _was_  that time with the Mandarin and the breaking into the mansion and being a genius. Hiding in plain sight was often most effective, and Darcy should really know this by now! She’d been doing it her whole life and she should have seen the signs. But she didn’t. Which explained why she was here, staring at Tony Stark as he tried to set her up with Captain America. Oh life, will you ever cease to amaze?

“Listen, Tony, honey,”

“You’re talking to me like I’m six years old and put laundry detergent in the dishwasher.”

“I did that last week,” Darcy said, shaking her head to clear it. Fucking Tony Stark, throwing her off her game. “I really appreciate what you’re doing, but I don’t need a date. I’m fine, don’t worry,” 

And now he was creasing his brows,  _oh fuck no_. He was thinking; bad things happened when Tony Starkstarted thinking. There was that one time he revolutionized  _everything_ , but that was definitely beginner’s luck.  

“Oh come on, what’s wrong with Steve?” He wasn’t outright pouting, but his lower lip looked displeased. Darcy was disturbed, and wondered if he was going to patent the ‘displeased lower lip’-look. Pepper could probably make that happen.

“Nothing! There’s nothing wrong with Steve!” Other than the fact that he isn’t Nick and he’s obviously hopelessly in love with Bucky and Natasha. They have a thing, which Darcy isn’t thinking about unless Nick’s out of town and her vibrator doesn’t quite cut it. Which was more often than Darcy liked to pretend.

“Then why won’t you go out with him? Is it someone else? Are you having an illicit affair with Foster, it that it? Or have your friendship with the Hulk progressed to the adorably fluffy Dr. Banner? Or maybe it’s Barnes; I saw the way you were eyeing him!”   
There had been many moments in the past years in which Darcy had wished for an average,  _public_  marriage, but nothing came close to this. Because now Darcy was forced to come up with an excuse for looking at Barnes other than  _you’re the asshole who tried to kill my husband, come closer and I’ll cut a bitch_. Like, she knew he didn’t mean to, and that he was brainwashed and all that, but Darcy held a grudge like no one. It didn’t matter that Nick had forgiven him in a matter of moments, either.

“I have a thing for his arm, okay? Shiny things make me happy, shut up!” She squeaked, covering her mouth as soon as the words were out. At best, saying this was probably illegal or sexual harassment; at worst it was an insanely stupid thing to tell Tony freaking Stark. Tony Stark, who – by the way – was looking like Christmas had come early.

(Darcy really couldn’t be blamed for running away.)

* * *

Barton was next, but why he had to do it during a debrief with Director Fury, Coulson and the goddess currently disguising in the mortal form of Maria Hill all present, was still a mystery. Nevertheless, he didn’t get long into his tirade of why Agent Alexander was God’s gift to humanity, before Fury’s forehead twitched and Phil was snickering into his coffee-cup.

“Why are you laughing?” He demanded, and either Tony didn’t patent that pout-thingy or Clint was looking at a lawsuit. Barton looked more adorable doing it though, but that may have been because he could kill her from 500 meters away, probably more.

Surprisingly, Darcy didn’t really have that much knowledge of snipers and their ways, but she did know that the more deadly people were, the cuter they could be. Nicholas refused to tell her if that was a conscious choice on SHIELD’s behalf, if that would make the bad guys less likely to kill them. Or maybe it had nothing to do with the pout; maybe it was the way Barton’s biceps were flexing that made him more adorable. The world would never know.

“He is laughing because Darcy Lewis’ relationship status is highly classified, Agent Barton. So classified in fact, that you didn’t even  _know_  it was classified. Needless to say, I would be very happy if everyone would stop trying to set her up on dates, capiche?” Director Fury said, sending Agent Coulson a dirty look when he went from snickering to laughing. He shrugged his shoulders in a hopeless apology, and look at that – he’d finally put the pieces together. It would explain why he was alternating between looking fond and slightly confused last week.

“How is it classified? I’m level 7,” He asked, looking between Darcy – who was just so  _done_  with everyone pitching in on her life – and his boss.

“Level 7 isn’t the highest level, Barton. You honestly don’t think SHIELD have secret levels?” Nick raised his eyebrows in question, leaning further back into his chair. Maria looked like she had much better things to do, but settled for fiddling with the controllers on the chair. She and Darcy were currently engaged in a competition of how fast they could make the chairs go up and down. Phil was looking like he wanted in. Nick looked like he wanted different right hands. 

(Clint seemed to content to let it rest at that. Maria won the Battle of the Office Chairs.) 

* * *

Then there was Natasha. 

“So, when are you going to tell everyone you’re boning the Big Daddy?” She’d asked.

“Don’t ever call my husband ‘Big Daddy’.  _Ever_.” Darcy answered curtly.

“Huh.” Nat seemed to be reevaluating Darcy, and came up pleased by the looks of it. Darcy couldn’t be sure, because it was Natasha, but she liked to think so anyway. “Didn’t know you were married.”

“That’s kind of the point,” Darcy shrugged, “Think you can keep a secret?”

“Nah,” Nat grinned, “I think TMZ would pay good money for this.”

“They’d probably pay better money for the scoop on Steve Rogers’ relationship with the Black Widow  _and_  Winter Soldier,” Darcy said pointedly. 

Nat raised an eyebrow as she sat down on the chair opposite of Darcy. “I always knew you had hidden depths, Darcy.” She smiled, cat-like and predatory, and yeah, if Darcy wasn’t happily married, she’d totally be crushing on Nat. “Maybe you’d like to join our relationship? I can assure you, no one would mind.”

“I would,” Nick said wryly from the doorway. “And aren’t you supposed to be in Bermuda?”

(There was a reason she stayed married to him, okay. His ability to eavesdrop on unsuspecting people was only one of those reasons.)

* * *

Bruce didn’t seem to give a shit about Darcy love life, which was refreshing.

“As long as you’re happy, I’m happy,” He’d smiled, and before Darcy had a chance to hug him within an inch of his life just for being adorable, he was already by the whiteboard, rewriting one of the equations.

(She made him brownies as a thank you for minding his own business, and considered it a success when he took a break from his work to eat it. Like, a proper, sit down at a table, type of break.)

* * *

“I’ve figured out why you don’t like me.”

Darcy shrieked, nearly toppling over as she lost her balance. He caught her just in time, helping her upright as she glared at him.

“Is it because you’ve broken into my office and sat there, waiting for me in the dark?” She asked; voice clipped as she walked towards her desk, setting her purse down by the bottom of it. “And then nearly gave me a heart attack?”

“You’re mad at me because I shot the director.” Bucky said, making himself at home and sitting down in one of the chairs.

“You didn’t shoot the director, Hydra did,” She corrected, because it was an important distinction to make. She had to be careful now though, because lying to him wouldn’t work, and Nick didn’t want to tell anyone yet – not after how insufferable Nat was about it. “You were the weapon of choice. And the director has forgiven you – not that there’s anything to forgive – so I’d have no reason to be mad at you for that anyway.”

Which was true; she had no reason to be mad at him. And she wasn’t, not really – it was just easier to take her fears out on him because she’d seen videos of ‘him’ accepting the mission of killing her husband, and then almost going through with it, making him a manifestation of all the nameless dangers her husband faced.

She knew it wasn’t fair, and she knew it wasn’t right, but that was the way it was.

“Except you’re in love with him.” Bucky said easily, “So you wouldn’t need a reason to be mad at me.”

She considered denying it, but knocked the suggestion away at once – there really was no point. He already knew and since he could tell when Nat lied, when  _Barton_  lied, there wasn’t any hope for her getting away with it. Darcy was an open book to most anyway.

Still, Darcy had made a promise to her husband, her best friend, and she couldn’t just break it. So she looked him straight in the eyes and held eye contact until one of them broke.

Darcy was surprised to see that she ‘won’.

Bucky got up from the chair with that same cat-like grace Nat had to her, and gave her a brittle, tense smile that made Darcy break into a thousand little pieces.   _It’s not you_ , she wanted to scream,  _but our baby is inside me, and her father might never make it home because of fates like yours and it isn’t_ fair _._

“I don’t know how much of the video you saw,” He said, clenching his jaw when Darcy swallowed the lump in her throat. “That much, huh?” He nodded in understanding, though it almost looked like defeat. “I’m sorry you had to see that.”

He was. He truly was sorry, and fuck – that’s almost the worst part. He deserved an explanation.

“You’re my worst nightmare come to life, you’re what everyone who has loved ones doing work like this dreams of at night. You’re the embodiment of everything that threatens my happiness and sanity, and  _it’s not even you_.” Darcy blinked against the stinging in her eyes, the fucking hormones that were messing with her system and her brain and  _everything_. She wanted to yell at him, wanted do scream at everyone trying to destroy her world, and she wanted to hug him, tell him that it wasn’t his fault and he’s safe now. She was a mess inside, and she knew she was hurting him now, but he  _deserved an explanation._ “That’s why it so fucking horrible; it’s because you could’ve been  _anyone_. But you’re a hero – no, don’t give me that look, you  _are_ , – you’re a hero, and so is my hu…  _He_. Other people won’t see him as that, he certainly doesn’t, but I do. I know that if something goes wrong, someone like you could kill him. But if something goes even more wrong,  _he could become you_.” _  
_

“I know. “ Bucky said, and Darcy didn’t know whether to be relieved that he didn’t give her false assurances or hate him for it. She went with relieved, because she hated him for so much already, and she hated herself for it.

“Yeah,” Darcy huffed a laugh, something close to it anyway, and tried to smile at him. It didn’t work, but he tried to smile back at her, so that was something. “It’s not you. It was never about you. It was about my fears and I am so incredibly sorry that I took it out on you.”

“You never did,” He protested, shrugging, “You never said a bad word to me or about me to anyone. You stood up for me to other people, and you’ve never claimed I was guilty of anything.”

“But – “

“Mrs. Fury, I know fear when I see it. You were afraid, and you handled it better than anyone else I’ve ever met.”

“To be fair, most people you’ve met were either Hydra or grossly ignorant people from the 40s,” That was probably unfair, but it wasn’t exactly wrong, and it did make him genuinely grin, so Darcy counted it as a win.

“True, but that doesn’t meant I’m wrong.” Bucky gave her this look, the one that Steve had told her about when he was sad; it was the one Bucky gave him when he was sick and refused to stay in bed for as long as he should have. It was every bit as effective as Steve promised it was.

“Fine.” Darcy said, finally sitting down on her chair. He followed suit, and so there they sat, opposite each other and in a vacuum, both knowing the other didn’t blame them for anything, both feeling guilty for things they couldn’t control. Someone had to make the first move, and Darcy knew it had to be her.

“Phil is going to be the Godfather, but I’d like you to know that I expect you to be present in her life as well. Nick trusts you; everyone else does too – including me. I assume you know where we live –“

He nodded, though he looked very confused. It was more murder-puppy than murder-robot. Adorable, actually.

“– Good. I’d like you to conceal our existence even better, using whatever methods you deem necessary. No killing or torture, but the rest is up to you. Now, Jane has plans for a baby shower, and I need you to keep her in line. She tends to think very big and then get overwhelmed by the stress she puts on herself, and in turn she stresses me out. I can’t have that, not now – not good for the baby, apparently.”

“Hang on – what –?”

“You’re gonna be an uncle, congratulations. As I was saying, Jane…”

(Bucky turned out to be a do-it-yourself  _God_ , and made sure that the baby shower went down in Pinterest-history. Surprisingly, no one was actually that surprised.) 

* * *

“Eliza.” Darcy, exhausted and sweaty and covered in body fluid she never knew existed, but still glowing with happiness, smiled. She looked up from her daughter – really nothing more than a tuft of black hair that promised an epic afro that she’d inherited from her father, given the pictures Darcy had seen, – to her husband. 

“Eliza,” He repeated, looking awestruck and in love and completely, utterly  _happy_. They’d liked the name before the birth, but they’d agreed to wait and see if it would fit the baby before they decided on anything. It fit – it was perfect.

“Yeah.” Nick agreed, reaching out a hand to carefully stroke her swollen little cheek. She made a sound and opened her tiny, perfect mouth, making both parents turn to mush for the millionth time in the ten minutes. 

She was  _perfect_.

“Eliza Lewis-Fury.” Darcy said, leaning in so she could kiss Nick’s cheek. She was so tired that it was more of a brush of lips than anything else, but it still counted.

“We should probably call Phil, let him know she’s here.” Nick said, never looking away from Eliza,  _his daughter_ , his  _actual daughter_.

“We should probably let him know I’m pregnant, too. Or  _was_  pregnant.”

“I probably shouldn’t have sent him on that assignment. He’s going to be a mess.” 

(Agent Alexander turned out to be a HYDRA-agent, sent to infiltrate the higher-ups. Darcy won fifty bucks from Nick, and told him to never trust anyone with a business degree who was  _that_  good of a shot.)

**Author's Note:**

> I own nothing. 
> 
> \---
> 
> It accidentally got really serious with Bucky there (didn’t plan that at all), but I hope I managed to convey what Darcy is feeling. It was never about Bucky - not really, so while it may seem like a switch for her to from really angry and sad and confused to “you’re gonna be Elizas uncle, deal with it”, it really wasn’t. 
> 
> She liked Bucky and she wanted the best for him, she just needed to get over that… Thing. We have a word for it it Norwegian; “kneik” it translates to “short steep section”, but basically it means to get over than one thing so you can reap the benefits of (or get over that) really big thing more easily. 
> 
> Good night! I hope you liked it <3
> 
> OH btw - The title is a reference to the song “Helpless” from the Hamilton musical, because it fits with Eliza’s name and also with the story and also it’s one of the bets soundtracks of all time wow   
> \---
> 
>  
> 
> [My Tumblr! Come say hi! (I post these dribbles there early too... I mean... If you're interested...](http://thejoysofamultishipper.tumblr.com/)


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